Vol -IX, 2009 & 2010

AN OVERVIEW ON DRILLS AND ITS GEOMETRY

Atanu Das'* and Dr. Santanu Das^
''M Tech (Production Engineering), 2nd Year Student, Department of Mechanical Engineenng
email atd kgec@gmail com
^Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, email sdas_me@rediffmail com
Kalyani Government Engineenng College, Kalyani

Abstract : Dniling is a machining process in which a hole is onginated or enlarged by means of a multipoint,
fluted, end cutting tool As the dnil rotates and enters the workpiece, matenal is removed in the form of chips
along the fluted shank of the dnil The effectiveness and overall economy of dnlling depend on the type of cutting
tool, and way of use Simple geometrical modifications at the cutting edge can help achieve significant
improvement in machinability and hence its efficiency and economy In this paper, an overview is made on the
advancement of dnlling process and geometry of the dnil bit

Keywords Drill Dnil geometry, Tool matenal, Dnil modification

1. Introduction II) Overall length The length from the extreme

end of the shank to the outer corners of the
In manufacturing, large proportion of holes are cutting lips, It does not include the conical
produced by drilling Of all machining processes shank end often used on straight shank drills,
performed, drilling takes a share of nor does it include the conical cutting point
about 25% Although drilling appears to be a used on both straight and taper shank dnils
simple process, it is accurately a complex process III) Body The portion of the drill extending from
Cutting action is done inside the v\/orkpiece the shank or neck to the outer corners of the
Friction between the margin and the hole wall cutting lips
causes its finishing The counter flow of chips iv) Chisel edge The edge at the end of the web
through the flutes makes lubrication and cooling that connects the cutting lips
difficult There are four major actions taking place ^ Chisel edge angle The angle included
at the point of a drill between the chisel edge and the cutting lip,
1 Chips are formed by the rotating lips as viewed from the end of the dnil
2 A small hole is formed by the web vi) Flutes Helical or straight grooves cut
3 Chips are removed from the hole by the screw or formed in the body of the drill to
action of the helical flutes provide cutting lips, to permit removal of
4 The drill is guided by lands or margins that rub chips, and to allow cutting fluid to reach the
against the walls of the hole cutting lips
New drill-point geometries and new coatings vii) Flute length The length from the outer
have resulted in improved hole accuracy, longer corners of the cutting lips to the extreme
tool life, self-centering, and increased feed-rate back end of the flutes
capabilities [1] viii) Helix angle The angle made by the leading
edge of the land with a plane containing the
2. Drill Geometry axis of the drill
ix) Land The peripheral portion of the body
A drill IS having the following portions and between adjacent flutes
geometnes x) Land width The distance between the
I) AXIS The imaginary straight line which forms leading edge and the heel of the land
the longitudinal center line of the drill measured at a nght angle to the leading edge
(35) Atanu Das and Dr. Santanu Das

xi) Lips Cutting edges of a two flute drill, drill bit or to make a conical impression at the
xii) Lip relief angle ; The axial relief angle at the end of a workpiece to be mounted on a lathe
outer corner of the lip; )l is measured by centre [6].
projection into a plane tangent to the periphery Spade dnil ; A spade drill is usually a two pan
at the outer corner of the lip. drill, the cutting point being removable and usually
xiii) Point : The cutting end of a drill, that made of high speed steel. Often spade drills A!!;
resembles a cone, but departs from a true have coolant lines running through the oody. Since
cone to furnish clearance behind the cutting the cutting point is removable, one drill can be used
lips, for a good range of hole sizes.
xiv) Point angle : The angle formed by the cutting Trepan drill : A trepan drill, sometimes called a
edges of the drill. [2-5]. BTA Drill, is used to cut an annulus, and leaves a
The shape of a conventional twist drill is of centre core. Trepans usually have multiple carbioe
complex nature. But by analogy with a single point inserts and rely on water to cool the emitting tips
cutting tool, the angles of drill may be simulated as and to flush chips out of the hole Trepans are often
a combination of two turning edges twisted to meet used to cut large diameters and deep holes
at the chisel edge. Table 1 indicates the basic However, this drill is having only specific applications
similarities between a conventional turning tool and at present, due to its inherent problem for easy chip
a conventional twist drill [2]. removal etc.
Ejector drill : Ejector drilling or two tube system
Table 1 : Similarities between
is a process similar to the BTA process except that
a turning tool and a drill
in this case, the drill tube consists of an inner and
Conventional turning tool Twist drill outer tube. Coolant is introduced at the spindle via
a rotary connector, and passes between the inner
Principal cutting Vi (Point angle),p
and outer tube. Chips exit through the inner tube
edge angle (ij))
Minimum diameter is limited to about 19 mm since
Inclination angle (A) A = -(sin cpn)(d^d) there is less room for chip removal in the smaller
Back rake angle (YX) Helix angle (9) diameter tube. The ejector system performs well in
the case where the face of the part is irregular since
3. Different Types of Drill the design of the rotary connector and drill head
create a venturi effect to draw coolant, and chips
There are different kinds of drills used now a days. flow through the inner tube without relying on a good
Few common type of drills are discussed in the seal between part and bushing [7].
following :
Twist drill : Twist drill is the most commonly 4. Modifications on Drill
used drill, at present. It drills holes in metal, plastic,
and wood. The most common twist drill has a point A number of methods is used for improvement of
angle of 118°. This is a suitable angle for a wide cutting performance, dimensional accuracy and
array of tasks. A more aggressive angle, such as production capacity of drills. Typical design
90°, is suited for very soft plastics and other features of few high-productivity drills are discussed
materials. A shallow angle, such as 150°, is suited below.
for drilling hard steels and other tougher materials. Double- cone drill : The point section is short
This bit requires a starter hole, but will not bind or and has a point angle of 70° to 75°, while the
suffer pre.-nature wear when a proper feed rate is second or the longer section has the standard 116'
used [6]. to 118° point angle. This point style produces wider
Gun drill ; Gun drills are straight fluted drills chips, but chips are thinner at the outer corner of
which allow coolant (either compressed air or a the lip reducing the wear in this area and increasing
suitable liquid) to be directed through the drill body, drill life [2].
directly to the cutting face. They are used for deep Thinned web drill : The thrust force can be
drilling with depth to diameter ratio of 100:1 or appreciably reduced by thinning the web as shown
more [6]. in the Fig 1. This increases the active length of the
Centre drill : Centre drill is used in metal cutting edge, and consequently reduces the
working to provide a starting hole for a larger-size specific pressure per unit length of the cutting edge.
 An Overview on Drills and its Geometry (36)

A
/I B>v H

Fig 1 : Thinned web drill Fig. 3 : Crisp design chip breaker

Thinning the web also decreases the length of Ernst and Haggerty's Spiral-Point Drill; Ernst and
the chisel point, and lip angle at the web. Haggersty devised a three dimensional spiral-point
Those factors lead to a reduction in thrust force, drill illustrated in Fig. 4 An analysis of the drill
and increase the drill life [2,8]. geometry shows that the straight chisel edge has
Chip breaker drill . Handling of wide chips often a large negative rake angle and that the space
becomes difficult when using large diameter drills. ahead of the chisel edge is so restricted that the
These chips can be conveniently broken by chip- chip can not flow smoothly The chisel edge action
breaking grooves placed at the cutting edge as becomes extrusion as the velocity is very low.
shown in Fig 2 [2]. Oil tube chip breaker and oil Changing the chisel edge design to a spiral-point
hole chip breaker drills are also used in which reduces the normal rake angle, thus improving
coolant is fed through shank. cutting action at low speed zone [2].

f oit \
\ Q fr/ Spiral point
y ^ c h i s e l edge

Fig 4 : Ernst and Haggerty's Spiral-Point Drill

Zhirov-Point Drill : Zhirov [2] has developed

Fig 2 : Chip breaking drill a high-production high-speed steel drill for
drilling cast iron. The drill has a triple lip at each
Crisp design chip breaker : Another type of chip cutting edge, an extra rake ground on the face of
breaker, known as crisp design chip breaker, shown the lip, and a split point. The shortest lip has an
in Fig 3, provides a helical rib on the heel side of included angle of 55°, the intermediate lip has a
the flute which extends for the entire length of the point angle of 70°, and the largest lip has the
drill flute. This rib obstructs the normal chip flow standard point angle of 118°. The chisel edge
and forces tighter chip curl, imposing additional strain has been reduced by a slot or groove. Therefore,
which breaks the chip [2,9]. extrusion action is replaced by cutting action. This
(37) Atanu Das and Dr Santanu Das

design allows the thrust to reduce by one-third • Modifications of suitable drill geometry have
to one-fourth of that required for conventional been made for enhancing productivity
drills • As new workpiece materials are being
Chisel Edge Modification of Drills Thrust force developed, there has to be continuous
causes wide dimensional deviation in drilling improvement regarding new dnll materials and
Excessively large drilling thrust force not only corresponding appropnate dnll geometry
demands high strength and rigidity of the drilling
machine but also shortens the life of drill and References
machine Some of chisel edge modification
techniques which reduce drilling thrust [1] Black, J T , and Kohser R A , 2010,
dynamically by enabling the sharper chisel edge Degarmo's Materials and Processes in
remove material by cutting action rather than Manufactunng, Tenth edition, Wiley India (P)
indentation or extrusion [8-11] Ltd , pp 628-655
The benefit of chisel edge modification, include [2] Bhattacharyya, A , 1984, Metal Cutting Theory
I) Sustainable reduction in the thrust force which
and Practice, New Central Book Agency,
economizes the design of the machine tool
Calcutta, pp 81-87, 603-606
II) Increasing speed and feed, and hence [3] http //www mfg mtu edu/marc/primers/dnlling/
productivity nomen html, accessed on 21 10 2010
III) Dimensional accuracy like oversizing
[4] http//www jjjtrain com/vms/cufting_tools_drill/
IV) Smoother operation with much lesser noise and
cutting_tools_drill_02 html, accessed on
vibration
21 10 2010
\^ Drilling on even slightly curved surfaces is [5] http //www sizes com/indexes htm, accessed
possible on 31 12 2010
VI) Lesser tool wear and longer tool life [6] Tsai, W D , and Wu, S M , 1979, Computer
Solid carbide drill Solid carbide drill provides analysis of drill point geometry. International
maximum wear resistance while drilling various Journal of Machine Tool Design and Research,
metals such as high carbon alloy and stainless Vol 19, No 2, pp 95-108
steels, titanium, high temperature alloys, aluminum, [7] http //www technidnllsystems com/faq htm,
b r o n z e , c a s t and d u c t i l e iron C a r b i d e is a accessed on 21 10 2010
c o m p o u n d c o m p o s e d of c a r b o n and a less [8] Chattopadhay, A B , 1997, Metal cutting-
electronegative element These dnils are known for machine tool and tooling design, Proceedings
its sturdy construction and dimensional accuracy of the Third SERC School on Advanced
Some types are solid carbide twist drill, solid Manufactunng Technology, pp 33-40
carbide twist dnll, step burnishing dnll, step dnll, etc [9] Chattopadhyay, A B , Bhattacharya, A K ,
[8] [11] Ham, I , and Bhattacharya, A , 1970,
Modifications of drill point for reducing dniiing
thrust. Transactions of the ASME, No 71,
5. Concluding Discussion Prod-12, pp 1-6
[10] Chattopadhyay, A B , and Banerjee, J , 1980,
In this paper an overview is made bnefly on different
On specification of drill geometry and its
aspects of drilling, and drill bits highlighting its
standardization. Journal of the IE (I), Vol 61,
types, material and geometrical modification
ME 3, pp 116-118
Following comments can be made out of the
[11] Roy, R , Chattopadhyay, A B , and
discussion made
• Depending upon varying applications different Bhattacharyya, A , 1981, Chisel edge
modification of small HSS and carbide drills
types of drill have been developed in the
for improved performance. Annals of the CIRP,
past
Vol 30, N o l , pp 103-104

C Energy is eternal delight. William Blake

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